


Sentence Fragment

by MaxWrite



Series: Hockey Night in Canada and Everything After [6]
Category: Actor RPF, American Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Mission: Impossible (Movies) RPF, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol RPF, Mission: Impossible RPF
Genre: M/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxWrite/pseuds/MaxWrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom loves a movie premiere. The lights, the cameras, the fans … the invasive and misguided questions about his love life …</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sentence Fragment

**Author's Note:**

> It's taken me a couple of years but I've finally written this series up to the point where MIGP actually premieres.

Tom likes premieres. It's when he finally gets to share something he's proud of with the world, not to mention an opportunity to greet fans. He finds premieres energizing … for the most part. The problem lies in the constant rushing. Things always feel unfinished somehow at the end of it all, as if a very important sentence has been left hanging.

It's not as if he doesn't know exactly what he wants to say before he sets foot on the red carpet. He knows because he's practiced every word, yet somehow he always feels that the impression he's left isn't quite complete.

It's his detractors, the ones who are only watching in the hopes that he'll slip up somehow. There's nothing he can say that will make them see what's real. He hates letting them get to him, especially considering the fact that they can't ever be pleased by anything less than negativity. But he's only human. Sometimes things bother him.

Still he's pretty pumped tonight, happy to get on with the interviews. He's extremely proud, of both his film and his personal life.

He's in a relationship that everyone and their mother is curious about, skeptical about, baffled by. They're wondering what his "angle" is, what he's trying to accomplish with this latest "stunt". Tom often finds himself bitterly amused by the media's reactions. They've been chronically obsessed with him coming out, and when he finally does, he is given a collective side-eye as if he's up to something. Because why come out _now_ , after all this time? How coincidental that he's decided to do so, so close to the premiere of his latest film. Or wait, did he have a falling out with Scientology and is trying to stick it to them?

Yes, of course, that must be it. He finally decides to truly be himself, out in the open for the first time in his life, lifting a huge weight off his shoulders, and naturally it's all about Scientology. For god's sake.

But what confuses everyone even more than his choice to come out now is his choice of mate. Tom isn't surprised of course; nobody was gonna just let that go. Not that the media hasn't always had an unhealthy fascination with his love life, but this time it's different.

Questions about finally coming out don't bother him much. Most people who mention it to his face are respectful and supportive and downright happy for him. Questions about Simon irk him, though, because no one seems able to ask about him without being borderline insulting.

"What is it about Simon that caught your attention?" asks one reporter in a long, silver dress. She is yelling to be heard over the crowd despite the over-sized mic with her gossip show's logo emblazoned on the sides. She points the mic at Tom's face to get his response. Her camera person is standing by with his camera hoisted up on his shoulder and trained on Tom.

"He's just a really incredible guy," Tom replies. "And we have so much in common."

"Really? You seem like polar opposites; the jock and the nerd."

This isn't the first time that's been mentioned. The media has latched onto those labels and uses them constantly when talking about Tom and Simon. Tom doesn't mind it so much. He thinks it's rather cute, actually. It only becomes annoying when it's all people see.

"People don't think of me as a nerd, but I am," Tom replies. "He and I grew up watching a lot of the same movies and we both became film geeks very early on. We never run out of things to talk about. Of course, if you're looking for a simpler reason as to what caught my attention, well he's incredibly handsome. Just look." Tom gestures to Simon, who is standing a few feet away, talking with another reporter. He looks quite dapper in a classic three-piece gray suit. His hair is ginger and his beard is neatly trimmed. He smiles as he answers questions. Tom unabashedly beams at him.

"You both look very dashing tonight," yells the reporter.

"Thank you very much," Tom says to her, giving her his attention again. Her last comment feels like a nice place to segue into another topic. Over the years Tom has developed a keen feel for the rhythm of this type of "softball" interview. This reporter should now steer the conversation to Tom's movie … but she goes right back to asking about Simon.

"Have you ever dated someone like him before?" she asks.

Tom is torn. He wants to plug the film, but he also doesn't mind talking about Simon some more. He pulls out the standard response he's been using for everyone who's asked this particular question: "Yes and no. I've dated some wonderful, kind, beautiful, intelligent people, so in that sense, yes, I have. But he's also unique in that I'm a different person now. I've figured out who I am and who I should be with, and in that sense there's been no one like him."

The reporter is about to ask something else, but Tom's handler taps his shoulder and warns him that they need to keep it moving. The reporter hastily asks about the new movie and Tom hits all his usual points as though he's repeated this spiel a thousand times, which he has: intense, thrilling, funny, breathtaking stunts, exotic locales, great cast. Then with a show of reluctance, he bids this reporter a good night and moves onto the next one.

His regret at having to step away isn't entirely an act; there's so much more he'd like to say about his relationship. He feels the need to explain, but he's been warned by his publicist to keep it short. Give them a little something, a tidbit that shows how happy he is, and then shut it down. People will be looking for chinks in the armor, anything that shows hints of some kind of facade. People see what they want, whether it's there or not, so give them as little to analyze as possible. Control and conciseness are Tom's weapons here. And really, he doesn't owe anyone any explanations for who he's with.

His next reporter begins by asking how difficult Tom's stunts were, but he wastes little time in getting to the questions everyone is asking.

"I see that Simon Pegg's here tonight as well," he says.

"Yup, there he is," Tom says, happy to look over at Simon again. This time Simon turns and looks their way at the same moment. He waves at Tom, but then his handler guides him away to speak to the next person.

"Oop, no time to stop and chat with us," Tom's reporter comments jovially.

"He's a popular guy, that's for sure," says Tom proudly.

"He's not your usual type. What drew you to him?"

Tom replies to the question with patience and grace, repeating much of what he said to the previous reporter.

"And surely because he makes you laugh," this reporter adds when Tom stops speaking.

Tom has deliberately steered clear of Simon's sense of humor. People already know he's funny and how attractive that can be. Tom doesn't feel the need to say it again and again, even though his publicist has urged him to stick to safe topics such as that; it's what people expect him to say and thus will be more easily believed than anything else.

"Well, sure," Tom admits. "That's definitely part of it, but it's so much more than that. He's three-dimensional. He's a good person, compassionate, loyal. He works hard, he doesn't take things for granted. His humor is part of his attractiveness, but it's not all of it."

The reporter nods. "And what do you find the most attractive about him? Besides his sense of humor of course."

Tom has to take a moment to think. Not because he doesn't know how to answer, but because he's afraid he'll say something inappropriate. He cannot ask the reporter if he's gotten a good look at Simon's ass lately, or his biceps or his tattoos. He cannot wax poetic about how deep and lovely Simon's voice is, especially in the dark when it murmurs in Tom's ear. He cannot swoon over the peachy freckles on Simon's creamy skin. His gorgeous smile maybe? That seems fairly safe to mention.

Tom clears his throat and begins a cautious reply that almost immediately gets away from him: "There's something really unassuming about him. He's been labeled as the 'every man', and he _is_ just a normal guy like anybody else, but he's so much more than that. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met. He's naturally talented. I've seen people put years into trying to perfect what he can just _do_. Not just comedy, which is hard enough, but dramatic roles. People don't think he can do that stuff, but he can, and it's an innate skill that he's got. He can infuse his performances with incredible depth and range of emotion. And he's passionate. He's in love with life. You can see it in his eyes, it radiates off him. _That's_ why people love him. Not because he's ordinary, but because he's extraordinary."

The reporter nods again, now looking a little taken aback. "Woooowwww," he says. "You're really in love, aren't you?"

Tom can feel himself blushing. He chuckles, partly out of slight sheepishness, partly to lighten the mood; he feels he might've gotten a bit lecture-y and he's been warned about that too. "I am," he agrees. He clears his throat and adds, steering back to safer topics, "Also, you know, he's got that gorgeous smile."

"Absolutely, sure, sure. Now, tell me, what's life with Simon like? Do you laugh a lot?"

Tom resists the urge to sigh as he wonders if anything he's said has made a lasting impression. He goes back to autopilot: "Sure, he's got a very finely tuned sense of comic timing, but you know he's just like everybody else. He's not always on. I know I just gushed about him being extraordinary, but life with him is really quite normal."

The next reporter is a little more creative, asking how Tom's children have adjusted to the new man in his life. Tom is careful here. His kids get along great with Simon, but he is expected to give a more detailed answer than that and it would be far too easy to either say too much or too little. Not saying enough is bad, but babbling is worse. He gives the reporter a few tidbits; a concert Simon attended with Tom's eldest daughter, a road trip with his son, shopping with his youngest.

The interviews come to an end and Tom is shunted off to take pictures with Paula, Jeremy and Simon, and then just with Simon. Photogs shout their names, trying to get them to look this way and that. Tom tries to give each and every camera lens his direct attention, but of course that would be impossible, even without him leaning in to whisper to Simon.

Flashbulbs go off all around them like excited fireflies. The photogs are practically salivating, pleased to be getting shots of him and his male partner standing close, whispering intimately. The truth is Tom and Simon have been coached; a little touch here, a little whisper there. Let them take their pictures. The public will eat it up and the display will show how eager Tom and Simon are to be in each other's personal space, as they should be. They are, after all, the new Hollywood power couple.

Tom has gotten very specific instructions: Simon is his partner, not just a colleague, not just a friend. Tom is to touch him the way he would a woman on his arm. He would normally sling his arm across the shoulders of a male friend for a picture, provided that friend was the right height to allow that. It's an old habit of his. He is not tall. The lifts in his shoes and a slightly thicker sole help, but he is simply not a tall man. Which bothers him less than most people probably believe, but there's still a certain image he needs to uphold. So he makes himself look taller in various ways, and getting his arm around a guy's shoulders for photos is one of them.

But Simon is the man Tom will soon reveal to the world that he is engaged to, not some pal of his, not just a fellow actor. In truth he really didn't need anyone to tell him to appear more intimate with Simon on the red carpet. Tom would have done so anyway. His hand naturally goes to Simon's lower back while Simon's lands a little higher on Tom, at his mid back.

"How'd you do?" Tom murmurs into Simon's ear.

"Same ol', same ol'. No surprises."

"Did anyone ask about my kids?"

"Yeah. I said they hadn't started calling me 'mum' yet but I was working on it."

Tom's professional red-carpet smile gives way to a more genuine one. He beams at the cameras and pulls Simon closer to himself so that there is no space between their hips. Here he is; a man in love. The resulting pictures will show that beyond the shadow of a doubt. For a while he can't tone down his smile at all. He is with a lovely, sharply-dressed man who can deflect any invasive question with ease. With Simon, reporters barely realize they're being brushed off. Tom is proud of him.

"They can't get over the fact we're together," Simon says.

"Don't make waves and it'll be old news soon enough," Tom says through his teeth, making sure to keep smiling as he manages to get his face under control. "Did anyone ask about the ring?"

"No, no one suspects a thing. If I was a woman, they'd be all over it."

"If you were a woman, that thing would be four times the size it is. They wouldn't be able to miss it."

"You should have one."

"One what?"

"A ring."

"I don't need one."

"Neither did I, but I'm glad I have it now. I'm getting you one … if that's all right."

Tom is beaming again. "All right."

Their names are called again, but this time it isn't photographers. It's fans from the sidelines, waving and holding up signs, some depicting rainbow flags, others with messages scrawled across them: 'Cregg 4 Ever' and 'Cregg is my OTP'.

"Is that a combination of our last names?" Tom asks.

Simon glances over to check. "That's what the internet call us."

"How long's that been going on?"

"Probably started after the news broke. Or maybe sooner than that, maybe after the rumors."

"What's 'OTP'?"

"No idea. I'll Google once we're seated."

Tom is distracted now, watching his fans, reading their signs, reading the joy in their faces. He'd gotten a few congratulatory comments while signing autographs, but he hadn't realized just how much support there was within the crowd. He raises a hand and waves at them, and Simon follows suit. The roar of cheering intensifies, peppered with shouts of "WE LOVE YOU!"

Tom looks at Simon and finds him with a huge grin on his face as he waves. There it is, the joy that Tom had mentioned to one of his reporters earlier. Simon is reflecting the crowd's love right back at them and he's so beautiful.

Tom feels he's been very controlled during much of his red carpet walk. He's been very good and he thinks he's made his publicist happy. He's earned a little something, a little step outside of what was rehearsed. He looks at Simon until Simon meets his eyes, and then he leans in for a kiss, a soft but lingering press of lips. His publicist will say it's too much, that it will appear as though he's "trying too hard", whatever that means. But he doesn't care. He's happy. And this is real. It's not a show, it's not an attempt to manipulate the media. It's not even for the cameras, it's for himself and Simon and their fans. He felt like kissing his partner, so he did. Their fans have come out tonight to show their support for so much more than a movie and Tom is going to show them that their efforts have not been wasted, that this is real, not some publicity stunt.

The crowd sends a 'thank you' back at them in the form of excited applause and a collective _"wooooo"_ that rises into the darkening sky.

Simon is caught off guard for just a moment and then relaxes. His hand caresses Tom's back almost encouragingly. He likes breaking rules too. When he feels he's been shoved into a box and told to sit-stay, Simon tends to act out a little. This often worries Tom's people, but it doesn't worry Tom. It's moments like this when he really feels how similar they are. This is what their detractors don't know, what they'll never really see; the spark that connects their eyes when the kiss breaks, the way the commotion in Tom's periphery seems to slow to a crawl, all because of the connection he feels with this man.

"Thought we weren't making waves tonight," Simon murmurs, gazing dreamy-eyed at Tom.

"Too much?"

"Nah. Just enough."

Tom feels a tug on his sleeve and time speeds up again. He looks away from Simon to find his handler giving him a stern look and making a "let's go" motion with her hand. Time to go. Always time to go. Never enough time to stay. Things always feel unfinished when the red carpet ends; things he should have said, points he should have driven home a little harder. Tonight's different, though. His hand remains on Simon's back as they head inside with a final wave to the crowd and Tom feels like a point has been made. Some still won't see it, won't believe it, but it doesn't matter. He's finally put a period on the end of his sentence.

END

**Author's Note:**

> I AM SO SORRY THIS NOTE GOT SO LONG OMG
> 
> I want to talk about the short section in which I mention Tom's height. Up until I wrote this, I'd been shying away from mentioning it at all, and in fact in my head I'd been picturing Tom and Simon as being closer to the same height than they actually are. It's not that I didn't know there's a height difference there (though I've recently been informed that the difference may actually be even greater than I'd thought), I just kept seeing them looking more like "Ethan" and "Benji", who are fairly close in height … I think. As that rather amusing [article](http://www.theawl.com/2011/12/mission-impossible-i-dont-understand-how-tall-everyone-is) explains, the height of each character in MIGP is difficult to pin down, so whether "Benji" is supposed to be shorter than or as tall as "Ethan" is hard to say. The point is, they look similar in height through much of the film, and Tom is pretty much always getting a little help in the height department when he's out in public anyway, so he always looks taller than he actually is. That's what made me decide to make my Tom a little taller so he'd be closer to Simon's height. I was picturing 5'8" for Tom and 5'9" for Simon (there is debate about how tall Simon actually is, 5'9" or 5'10", but I won't get into that here).
> 
> And that worked great. For a while. I thought them being close to the same height was rather cute at first, but I've started thinking about the reality of their height difference and being intrigued by it. And it turns out I'm not alone; I got to talking about it with some Tom-fan friends who've read this series and they're intrigued by it also. I wrote the majority of this fic before I talked to them, but I wasn't sure I was keeping the height bits until after the conversation.
> 
> I've also started to feel that I've done Tom a huge disservice by making him taller. I know I haven't been specific about it in this series, but the fact is certain scenes were written with his false height in mind and I regret that now. Because I don't care that he's short. The only reason I made him taller in the first place is because I couldn't picture him next to Simon at his actual height. Because I've never _seen_ it. Visualization is a very important part of writing.
> 
> There's also the fact that, since he disguises his height all the time, I didn't wanna bring it up too much because I felt that might be disrespectful. Or something. It is ridiculous how often someone who writes hardcore porn about characters they don't own and real people they don't know can feel that they're crossing a line about things that have _nothing whatsoever to do with sex_. I've written about Tom doing absolutely filthy things (and with someone he would never do those things with), but his friggin' height is where I drew the line omfg.
> 
> I'm also constantly concerned about offending his fans. I've come to adore him quite a bit in recent years, but I'm not one of his die-hard fans. While this version of him belongs to me, the fact is there are people who love him in a way that is deeper and more important than the way I do. You know what I mean? There are those celebrities, those characters, those bands, those books, those movies, etc. that you just feel belong to you (in a totally sane, in-touch-with-reality, non-stalkery way) because you loved them as a child or they just speak to you in some way. I feel that way about Simon. As for Tom, I just think he's pretty and nice and I like him very much, but he's not "mine". You need to be careful with other people's things. And because he's had to deal with so much crap from the media, I feel like not only might he be a little sensitive, but maybe his fans might be too. So, I just stayed away from the whole height thing for fear of saying the wrong thing or accidentally making it seem like I was making fun of him. I would never wanna do that. But I think I've been underestimating his fans a bit. Generally speaking, they like his height, they think it's cute and love talking about it.
> 
> Now, obviously this fic was not about Tom's height. I think I'm ready to tackle the height thing and I've discussed writing another fic, one that explores the issue a little more in-depth (and perhaps relishes in the size kink a little … or a lot heeee), but this isn't that fic. I just wanted to mention all this now in case anyone was paying attention and noticed any discrepancies between this and earlier fics. Not that I've talked about his height much, but still.
> 
> Okay, I'm shutting up now. Thanks for reading. <3


End file.
